


Taking Stock

by AreYouSittingComfortably



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Roller Coaster, Emotionally Repressed, Gen, Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-03
Updated: 2013-04-03
Packaged: 2017-12-07 09:00:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/746701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AreYouSittingComfortably/pseuds/AreYouSittingComfortably
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the emotional rollercoaster of the last few weeks, Emma needs to talk. She can't turn to Mary Margaret, so she decides to visit Dr Hopper. But Emma, being Emma, still can't open up, so Archie encourages her to write a list of all the people in her life and choose one word to describe them. Some are easier than others!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Taking Stock

**Author's Note:**

> A one-shot piece that suddenly popped into my mind today and wouldn't go away. Imaginary scene that takes place after "Selfless, brave and true".

Emma needs to talk, but she knows she can’t talk to her mother. Snow is in an even worse state than she is. The last few weeks, since returning from The Enchanted Forest, finding Neal in Manhattan, learning that Gold was her son’s grandfather, dealing with Henry’s disappointment in her, stealing Hook’s ship and returning to Storybrooke just in time to save Gold from his poison, using magic again, discovering that Snow had tricked Regina into killing Cora, and on top of it all, August’s undelivered warning… has been all too much.

Not even Mexican TV novellas manage to cram so many storylines into a few weeks, she thinks! She feels like she’s going to explode.

Emma wants to talk, but she doesn’t want someone to talk back, so that rules out Ruby.

She thinks about going to see The Blue Fairy, but she’s never felt comfortable around religious folk, so she's not sure about talking to Mother Superior.

So Emma goes to see Archie. But being Emma, even when she’s paying someone to listen to her, she finds it difficult to talk about her self. She talks about her mother’s anguish, her father’s feelings of helplessness, Henry’s disappointment in her, but again and again, Archie notes, she avoids talking about her own feelings.

By the third session, Archie decides it’s time to try something a bit different. He needs to find a way to get Emma to confront her feelings, but he also realises they going to need to take baby steps.

So Archie asks Emma to write a list of all the people in her life at the moment, and find one word to describe them.

“Just one?” she asks, frowning.

“Just one,” he nods. “and Emma, you don’t need to be polite.”

So Emma sits down and begins to write a list. And this is what she writes:

 

> **Snow** : ~~sad~~ / ~~lost~~ / ~~sorry~~ / ~~strong~~ / ~~kind~~ / ~~fierce~~ / loving / ~~friend~~
> 
> **David** : ~~loving~~ / sincere / ~~hopeless~~  
> 
> **Henry** : brave / ~~determined~~ / ~~loving~~ / ~~loved~~ / ~~smart~~
> 
> **Regina** : ~~evil~~ / ~~vengeful~~ / ~~manipulative~~ / ~~angry~~ / ~~unreasonable~~ / ~~judgemental~~ / ~~over-protective~~ / unforgiving / ~~bitch~~ / ~~mayor~~ / ~~queen~~
> 
> **Cora** : ~~evil~~ / ~~bitch~~ / ~~witch~~ / dead (ha!)
> 
> **Hook** : ~~missing~~ / ~~impossible~~ / ~~infuriating~~ / annoying / ~~lost~~ / ~~desperate~~ / ~~determined~~ / ~~doomed~~ / ~~pirate~~
> 
> **Graham** : gone
> 
> **Neal** : bastard / ~~coward~~ / ~~lying-bastard~~ / ~~trying~~
> 
> **Gold** : ~~scary~~ / ~~manipulative~~ / ~~powerful~~ / dangerous / ~~untrustworthy~~ / ~~bastard~~ / ~~spider~~
> 
> **Belle** : sweet / ~~deluded~~ / ~~naïve~~ / ~~scared~~
> 
> **Ruby** : ~~fun~~ / friend / ~~loyal~~ / ~~wolf~~ / ~~perceptive~~
> 
> **Granny** : tough / ~~sharp~~
> 
> **Leroy** : loyal
> 
> **August** : ~~weak~~ / ~~selfish~~ / ~~sorry~~ / remorseful
> 
> **Marco** : happy
> 
> **Mother Superior** : kind / ~~fairy~~
> 
> **Archie** : kind / ~~gentle~~ / ~~sad~~
> 
> **Dr Whale** : creepy
> 
> **Mulan** : ~~fierce~~ / strong / ~~loyal~~ / ~~warrior~~
> 
> **Aurora** : ~~lonely~~ / ~~afraid~~ / adjusting
> 
> **Anton** : ~~big~~ / ~~friend~~ / wronged
> 
> **Jefferson** : mad (as a…!)
> 
> **Grace** : sweet-heart
> 
> **Tamara** : ~~her~~ / new
> 
> _And then, almost as an afterthought:_
> 
> **Emma** : ~~angry~~ / ~~used~~ / tired / ~~exhausted~~ / ~~lonely~~ / ~~scared~~ / ~~sad~~ / ~~lost~~ / ~~helpless~~ / ~~tough~~ / ~~lass~~ / ~~strong~~ / ~~saviour~~ / ~~determined~~ /

 

 _Well_ , thinks Archie, reading slowly through Emma’s list, _we’ve got a lot to work on here_. The only question is where to start... baby steps.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I had fun writing this, but obviously it's coloured by my own feels. Feel free to leave your comments about what words YOU would have chosen for her to describe the various people in her life. Is she being honest? Is she hiding anything? Is she giving anything away? Have I left anyone out? Now that I've done it, I'm tempted to do one from Regina's POV too...


End file.
